The M Word

Hello guys! Can you guess what me and Andy did today? Here are some clues- yesterday I was looking here, and also here.

Guessed yet?

The other day I was reading Womens Running magazine, and it had a full page advert for the Ottawa marathon. Me and Andy were chatting, and he was saying how he would like a new challenge to keep him motivated to run. I have been half heartedly looking for a marathon to sign up for, but have yet to bite the bullet. We realised that this marathon was in half term and we both loved Canada when we travelled there a few years ago, and would love to go back and see more. Anyway, we looked into it but to cut a long story short you had to collect race numbers etc from the expo on the Saturday before 4pm, which would mean we would have to get a flight out on the Friday night, and as I would not be able to have a day off, we felt it was cutting it fine. Plus, although a £400 flight is not bad, times by 2, add the entry fee, accomodation, car hire……. it was too much.

But I had my heart set on a marathon- next May I will be 30 and I was thinking it would be a great way to celebrate my birthday. So we realised that the Stockholm marathon is on the same weekend, looked into it (got a lot of good reviews) and have signed up! Woohoo! I am very excited about it, but very nervous too. So at the moment I have been having training plan meltdown, as I am looking at books I have, and all over the internet ( Rose I like the look of your plan). I have some time to decide anyway!

So in celebration (and to help ease my body pump aches) I had a gentle 4 mile run this morning, before some shopping and some pumpkin baking.

Yummy pumpking spiced gingerbread, baked in a brownie pan so you have little squares of gingery pumpkiney deliciousness.

This afternoon (also in celebration) I treated myself to a scrummy Booja Booja truffle. These babies are organic, dairy free, vegan, gluten free chocolates which are handmade in Norfolk.

What a cute box! I love the way it opens;

This is an Italian hazelnut truffle (ingredients Dark chocolate (cocoa solids, cane sugar, soya lecithin), Coconut oil, Hazelnuts, Cocoa powder) and it is amazing! It is coated in cocoa (so make sure you don’t breathe in when it’s right by your mouth!) and is so rich and chocolatey. It is not bitter like some dark chocolate can be, but it is strong enough that one (or two) would be perfect. I got very messy hands – cocoa powder everywhere!!

So, back to the M word- if you have run a marathon- any tips? Any useful training plans? Also, any good ways to work out your estimated finish time (this one has a 6 hour limit eek)? And if you haven’t run a marathon- what are your plans to challenge yourself? (When I started running, the 5k race was my challenge, and it was a big challenge for me- see my running journey page if you want to see where I started!).

PS I have updated my recipes page so feel free to have a little look 🙂

I love booja booja truffles! Exciting news on your marathon! It sounds like a good one to run too. I’ve no experience of marathon plans but I do love the plans in the run less run faster book. It uses 3 runs a week which is good for me cause I seem to get injured easily and it means I can do other stuff too!

The run less run faster was on the website that I linked to (from Rose’s blog)- seems like a good one. I my be putting a few more running books on my christmas list!
I think that 3 runs a week is good- I love my aerobics class, and my body pump class, and also with work etc that seems a good balance for me. In the holidays I can manage 4 per week, but any more and I get over-tired and don’t feel the benefit from training.
🙂

Wow thanks so much- I had a look and if I put in my best 10K time it came up with 4.50 for the marathon, and my half marathon time came up with 4.55- so pretty similar.
Very useful to have a look and has at least given be a bit of an idea 🙂

ooooooh, sooo exciting!!! About the same timescale as me so we can compare notes throughout!

I do like my plan as it isn’t too pressurised so I can add to it and do more but am less likely to ‘fail’ (which would mess with my head!)

The other comparison is that mine will also be in honour of a ‘big’ birthday…shame I’m 10 years older than you though!!!!!

You’re so lucky that you can share this experience with Andy. I have friends in my running club that are doing it as a couple (they are doing Paris), it wouldn’t work for us if my hubby wanted to run too (kids too small) so can’t complain but I just think it’ll make it so special for you both to share it

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/booja-booja?PCode=FSGESS15&gclid=CILFzI2j-qQCFYw14wodBEf0ig
The mini boxes are from goodness direct (back of vegetarian magazine has a £10 off £35 order until 30/11- code 32233WW4), and also they do them at natural collection online.
Here is their home-page http://www.boojabooja.com/products.htm
They are so good! 🙂
It will be good to compare notes- I have enjoyed reading how your training is going- snap on celebrating a big birthday! I am looking forward to running it with Andy (well, having him at the finish line to cheer me over, and get ready/ compare notes at the end etc together)- plus it is a new city for us to see. I will of course update on my plans! 🙂

Argh this is so exciting! And really cool that you’re doing it with Andy. As for training, I think you have to have a look at all the different plans available and have a think about what will best fit with your lifestyle. You need something that you can commit to and sustain over 12-16 weeks. So while we might all think that 6 runs a weeks sounds badass, it might not work for you..

Yeah there is no way I could take 6 runs per week- I think my bones would dissintegrate! That is why I liked the look of the plan that Rose is following, as it was 3 runs per week (plus cross training or gentle runs on a couple of other days)- I know I could fit that around work and everything else. I feel like I am raring to go but in fact it is 7 months away so I have a while to decide. I am so excited though! 🙂